A review by christabelle_v
Winterhouse by Ben Guterson

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The premise of the book was good and solid. It's not a bad book, it's good,but not fantastic. Felt like it was missing something. I'll start with the positive: the atmosphere is good. It's winter but cozy. The writing has some strong beautiful moments and at one point my heart was racing. The problem I had was connecting with the mystery, the characters and the pacing of the book. I was surprised by turn to darker and creepier things. Regarding pacing and characters, half way in, my interest dropped. Elizabeth began to act impulsively and annoyed me as she appeared...stupid. It didn't line up with her character in the first half of the book. She was this intelligent girl who could pick up on mysteries and solve puzzles but her behavior baffled me at that point. She disregarded her friend's feelings. Later she realized she was wrong, but she did same behavior two more times. The author appears to try to explain this later
Spoilerby hinting she was moved my a mysterious force, perhaps Graycela
but it bothers me that she didn't try to fight it. She simply went with it, ignoring all voices of concern. And then when everything is wrapping up, she does the very same thing a third time, making me feel that her character did not develop or learn from her mistakes.  Lastly, the pacing was off for me; being fast then slow, then fast, then slow. Perhaps it needed to be a bit shorter.
SpoilerThe motive for the villian was "because I want to"
so the characters didn't feel fully fleshed out and the book was a tad too long. Not bad but could have been tweeked. 
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